Market Outlook: Fed no longer ‘accommodative’

As widely expected the Fed Funds target was raised last night by 25 basis points so that the target lending rate lies between 2.00 and 2.25 per cent. But chair Jerome Powell was quick to point out this did not mean a change in the path of rate hikes. He also inched up forecasts for the economy and said he didn’t see much in the way of inflation. Though some analysts think that over the coming year Fed Funds might be over 3.00 per cent, the futures market is expecting them to peak at 2.83 per cent. Bond yields dipped on the news.